Ismaili Recipes - This blog contains our family recipes; mainly it is Ismaili (Khoja) cuisine, our family lived in Uganda for 3 generations so we have a marked East African(Swahili, Lugandi) Influence in our cooking AND in our language!! (Kutchi / Cutchi / Gujarati.
In recent years with new additions to the family our cooking includes, English, Pakistani, Italian and Irish influences.

1. Soak lentils overnight.2. The next day, rinse the lentils. Wash rice and add to lentils3. Heat oil and butter (remember, I omitted the butter)4. When oil is hot, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, dry red chilies, onions, green chilies, ginger, garlic and fennel seeds. Saute all until the onions turn limp and light brown.5. Add tomatoes, red chili powder and black pepper powder. Saute for 3-4 minutes.6. Add green peas and saute for 3-4 minutes7. Add the rice and lentils, salt and sugar (I omitted the sugar). Saute for 5 minutes stirring continually until the rice is light brown.8. Add the water (I added hot water), milk and ghee. (Again, I omitted the milk and ghee and added an additional 1/2 cup of water instead of the milk). Give it a good stir.9. Add a pinch of saffron and garam masala powder.10. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until lentils are cooked.

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL RECIPES ARE THE ORIGINAL CREATION OF CHACHI'S KITCHEN. ALL PHOTOS BY CHACHI'S KITCHEN. PLEASE DO NOT POST OR PUBLISH WITHOUT CITING. CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS: CHACHISKITCHEN (AT) GMAIL (DOT) COM.